1Unit 43 LO2- Know social media for the business environement

Merit- Describe where social media has been successful in promoting businesses

Contents

IKEA

Mercedes Benz

IBM

IKEA

IKEA, the largest furniture store in the world, is an example of a business that has used social media to gain exposure and advertising of their company. IKEA uses a separate page on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest for each country with their stores, allowing them to tailor the way they use these sites to the different sales statistics of each country. For example, in the USA, coupon and money off deals are much more effective than they are in Europe, so the IKEA Facebook group is mainly composed advertising money off deals and printable vouchers, where as for IKEA Sweden for example, promoting the online catalogue is more prominent.

IKEA uses Twitter and Facebook for posting updates about the company (such as new stores), special deals they have on, and photo albums of their products. The most effective social media IKEA use is Pinterest, and although they only have accounts for the UK, USA and Canada, Pinterest allows them to create boards in particular styles, and one of the most popular sections on Pinterest is interior and home design, so people ‘repin’ IKEA’s products onto their own boards, increasing the size of the audience that see their products. Each pin links to the IKEA website, where the products can be purchased. By using Pinterest, IKEA create a profile people want to follow for their own decorating and interior design inspiration, so plugging some of their own products is simple and effective.

IKEA also use social media to gain awareness of events they are hosting and projects they are undertaking, such as creating an ‘indoor garden’ in central London in the form of a pop-up shop, to show members of the public how they can make use of their small outdoor spaces with their products. By using social media to start getting people talking about it, posting pictures and statuses about the day, IKEA managed to make the event a trending topic on Twitter.

IKEA also use social media to interact with customers, answering questions and responding to tweets on Twitter. When IKEA became aware of a Facebook site in Essex called ‘I want to have a sleepover in IKEA’, they obliged and hosted an evening of workshops, movies and treats for 100 winners in their Essex store. By communicating with their customers and noticing trends online, they took a valuable opportunity to show off their products, as well as make them feel like a part of the ‘IKEA family’. The video that was made of the night was shared millions of times, and it was full of endorsements of their furniture ranges.

(The Economic Times, 2014), (Long, 2014), (Braizel, 2009)

Mercedes Benz

Mercedes Benz use social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest to interact with their customers. They often favourite, retweet and reply to mentions of cars bought from them. This networking allows customers to feel like they are valued customers, and Mercedes even have been known to ‘tweet a coffee’[1] to people, making their experience with Mercedes feel even more unique. Mercedes also use social media to tweet back to people who are dissatisfied or have queries.

Mercedes Benz also took advantage of the advert break in the UK X-Factor, by showing a special 3 part short-film style advert. The film featured a secret music concert that the main characters are attempting to get to, despite being up against the authorities trying to shut it down, and a series of twists and challenges along the way. By asking viewers to use Twitter and tweet what the characters should do from the choices ‘#hide’ or ‘#evade’ Mercedes brought thousands of people talking about the cars, and by allowing them to ‘drive’ their own story, hooked people to the film. The second part of the film was chosen by the majority vote on Twitter, and then audience were faced with another dilemma at the end of that part. The advert reflected the more dynamic side of Mercedes Benz, adapting to the younger audience that would use Twitter and social media, and resulted in the hash tag ‘#youdrive’ appearing in timelines on Twitter 16m times over the space of the weekend, and statistics show that the desire to own a Mercedes Benz increased by 6% from the advert alone.

(Stuttgart, 2013)(Mercedes, 2013), (Goldstein), (Demange), (#YouDrive interactive ads)

IBM

IBM is an “American multinational technology and consulting corporation”. They create, develop and manufacture computer parts and systems (both hardware and software), and specialise in solving issues in businesses. Their work ranges from nanotechnology for purposes such as microchips, to whole computer systems for an office, for example.

IBM use social media to interact with customers and to gain ideas, and discuss and develop new innovations. One of the main unique tactics IBM use, is ‘keeping it real’. They do not have corporate IBM accounts for Twitter and Facebook like other organisations do, but instead, encourage their employees to create their own blogs and sites, including their ‘IBMer’ identity with their personal accounts.IBM began this is 1970s, as small discussions on forums. In 2010 there was over 17,000 personal IBM accounts in the form of blogs, and surprisingly, there is a set of guidelines, but not any policies or rule for using social media as an IMBer. IBM also has over 400,000 employee profiles on their ‘social networking initiative’, IBM connections.

There are a total of three people employed by IMB for social media roles, and they do not ‘police’ the sites and blogs of the other employees, and it is said that this system works well, and employees self regulate.

This is beneficial to IBM, as it means that they are always up to date, and current with what people want. Not having a central social media base allows IBMers to collaborate with people all around the world, discussing, gaining help and inspiration for their projects and research. It also improves IMB’s image to the world, and they understand that to be a successful business, it is not just selling your products, but your company too. Having a brand that is recognised and respected worldwide is very significant.

This take on social media has definitely been beneficial to the company. In 2008, IBM had revenue of over $100 billion, and reported a 44.1% gross profit margin.

(Wiki, 2014), (Hibbard, 2010)(Ohnesorge, 2013)

Florence Morris-Duffin9406The Blandford School

[1] ‘Tweet a coffee’ is a genius idea by Starbucks Coffee, that allows people to send $5 eCards to spend in their shops over Twitter for anyone they choose, for them to have a free coffee on them. Unfortunately tweeting coffees is only available in the US and Canada at the moment